"We Are Not All Criminals," But LAPD Gets Some Hand-Me-Down Drones Just In Case

"We Are Not All Criminals," But LAPD Gets Some Hand-Me-Down Drones Just In Case

Last week, the LAPD became the largest police department in the country to acquire surveillance drones - though their PR-savvy announcement carefully replaced the term with "unmanned aerial vehicles" - when they accepted as gifts two Draganflyer X6 drones rejected by Seattle residents who had cited privacy concerns, "the militarization of our streets and now the air above them," and the fact "we dont trust you with the weapons you do have." The LAPD, which was recently blasted for a surveillance dragnet over a couple of towns without telling alarmed residents, said the drones, err, aerial vehicles, will only be used for "narrow and prescribed uses that will be made clear to the public" at hearings later this summer - that is, long after they've acquired the equipment in the first place without telling anyone about it, but still, what could go wrong?

"We wanted to be really up-front with the public that we're looking at using these down the road...We wanted to make sure it didn't look like we were trying to sneak these things into action."

Further

In the face of increasingly catastrophic climate news - rising sea levels, wildfires, drought - a team of Russian photographers with the non-profit AirPano have taken to the air in helicopters, airplanes, dirigibles and hot air balloons to offer virtual and panoramic tours of the planet's most stunning locations, urban to wilderness, to remind us what's at stake. Take note.